Bottle brush



June 24, 1958 M. D. HUNTER BOTTLE BRUSH Filed June 24, 1955 INVENTOR. MAIe/a/I/fi. 'la/vrae 2,839,771 noT'rLE BRUSH Marion D. Hunter, North Hollywood, Calif. Application June 24,'19 5 5, Serial No. 517,715 3 Claims. (c1. 15-164) This invention relates to a brush for cleaning bottles having reduced necks.

Many brushes for cleaning bottles of this character have been devised in the past. The known devices for cleaning a narrow necked bottle, if capable of effectively cleaning the bottle, are complex structures difiicult to manipulate.

It is accordingly the main object of this invention to provide a bottle brush which incorporates a novel and simple feature of construction whereby it may be easily inserted into the bottle and removed therefrom, and which, by simple manipulations, is capable of effectively cleaning the inside of the bottle.

It is another object of this invention to provide a brush of this character that has no mechanism as such,

and that comprises an integral support and bristles secured to the support.

To accomplish a scrubbing operation efliciently, the brush must be quite stiff. A stiff brush can be most easily formed by making the bristles or brush elements quite short. To clean the bottle easily, the brush desirably extends fully across the bottle so that a simple turning manipulation is all that is required.

It is an object of this invention to provide a brush insertable through a narrow neck of a bottle, and that extends across the bottle, despite the fact that the bristles are short and a one-piece integral support is provided for the bristles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a brush of this character that is capable of cleaning the corners of the bottle.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a brush of this character that is adaptable for use with a wide variety of shapes and sizes of bottles.

The foregoing objects are made possible by a resilient convoluted strip which is fed or threaded through the bottle neck, and short bristles carried by the convolutions. After the convolutions are passed through the bottle neck, the strip expands until the convolutions extend across the bottle. The brush is then rotated or reciprocated.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of the invention. For this purpose, there is shown a form in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. The form will now be described in detail, illustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of this invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of ing the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the brush in the'process of a bottle brush incorporat- 2,839,771 PatentedJu rre 24, 1958 being inserted through a neck of a bo ttlefa portion of j the bottle being broken away and shown insectioriif Fig. 3 is .a view showing the brushinserted in'the bottle, the bottle being shown in longitudinal section; and

, Fig, 4 is' an enlarged trans'yerse sectional View, taken along the plane indicated by line of Fig. 1.

An elongate strip 10 of spring steel or other resilient material forms ,a support for the 'brushstrueture. The left-handend 11'of the strip 10,;as shown Fi'g .l, is appropriately looped to provide a; handle, by' the aid of which the brush may be manipulated.

The opposite end of the strip 10 is spirally convoluted and mounts a series of brush units ortufts 13 on the outside of the turns thereof. The brush tufts 13 may be supported on the strip 10 in any suitable fashion. For example, they may be set in one side of a flat flexible tubular sleeve or stocking 12. I The sleeve may be made of any non-abrasive material in which brush bristles may be set, such as rubber, plastic, or fabric material.-

The sleeve 12 is telescoped over the convolutions and extends from the free terminal portion 15 of the convolutions to the straight portion of the support 10 adjoining the convoluted end, as at 10a. The sleeve has suitable frictional characteristics to resist relative longitudinal movement between the-sleeve and the strip 10. The end of the sleeve 12 may be closed in order to define a limited operative position of the sleeve on the convoluted end.

As shown in Fig. 4, the brush tufts extend along that side of the sleeve 12 that is oriented outwardly with respect to the convolutions of the strip. The brush tufts extend to the end 15 of the convolutions.

In order to insert the brush into the bottle 14, the convolutions are unwound. The inner terminal portion 15 of the convolutions is inserted into the neck 16 of the bottle 14. The strip 10 is advanced, feeding the convoluted strip end into the bottle. An intermediate position is shown in Fig. 2. The convoluted strip end reassumes its normal configuration as the brush is inserted into the bottle, as shown in Fig. 3.

In this position,-the inner diameter of the bottle 14 is slightly less than the normal diameter of the outer turn of the convolutions, causing slight compression of the convolutions. The resilience of the convoluted end urges the bristles 13 firmly against the sides of the bottle. By rotating the handle 11, the brush tufts pass about the entire interior surface of the bottle. By exerting a'slight downward pressure on the handle 11, the bristles may enter corners 17 of the bottle.

To remove the brush from the bottle, the handle 11 is pulled upwardly. The convolutions unwind in passing through the bottle neck 16. When the terminal portion 15 finally clears the neck, the brush reassumes its normal unflexed configuration.

For smaller bottles, only the inner convolutions are inserted; those brush tufts on the inner turn or turns will then be operative.

The inventor claims:

1. In a brush structure: a series of bristles; a flexible resilient convoluted generally spiral support for the bristles having turns extending in successive encompassing relationship; and a handle forming substantially a tangentially located extension at the outer turn of the support.

2. A bottle brush comprising a handle, a spirally convoluted flexible resilient element having turns extending in successive encompassing relationship, the outer turn of which is secured to the handle so that the handle forms substantially a tangential extension of said outer turn, the turns of the convolutions being spaced apart in a radial direction, the outer turn of the convoluted element.

3. A bottle brush comprising a flat support of flexible resilient material having an integrally formed handle at one end and an integrally" formed spirally convoluted and brush bristles carried on carried by the sleeve and extending outwardly therefrom,

theb'fi's'tl's being extended outwardly from the turns of the convoluted portion. 7 I

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Glass July 4, 1950 Gamble Nov. 27, 1951 Kozers'ki Oct. 5, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Dec. 7, 1889 

